Speed Legends Night Drive

Finally here. The scent is utterly captivating, centered around the freshness of pacth, pink pepper, bergamot, and ginger. If you thought this was another release like Sospiro*s Vibrato or Bvlgari's Tygar, you'd be gravely mistaken. I had the same thought when I saw ginger combined with bergamot. So, this enticing, I'd say synthetic creation (but very, very skillfully structured and made) offers an Oriental Woody brilliance with a deep freshness. I'm not a fan of Roja's Apex perfume at all, but it has elements of that kind of freshness, or an even better comparison: it has a touch of freshness like MFK - Masculin Pluriel (I'm talking about the type of freshness here). This perfume has absolutely no connection to the two fragrances mentioned above, but it could be interpreted as drawing from the genre of those two scents. It's completely opposite to both yet very unique. It's quite linear with loud projection and really solid longevity and lasting power. The perfume's description is a night drive, which this fragrance perfectly embodies. Evening freshness, neon lights (the color of the bottle and the synthetic quality I'm talking about) can be very clearly interpreted here. It's appealing, captivating, long-lasting, yet different from anything I've tried. A very unique and cleverly crafted fragrance by Fernandez. Yes, this perfume is definitely a night rider, a night player; it's not for the day and sunlight. It's ideal for open spaces or clubbing. Age limit: over 30. It's not for kids (again, I'm referring to that shade of association with Masculin Pluriel and Apex). Finally, I come to the inevitable patchouli. A tried-and-true recipe for such things. Here, it is fresh and aromatically green. Pleasantly strong, intriguing, but again with an emphasis on the synthetic. I almost said sterile, lol. I give it a solid 8 out of 10. A thematic scent that you use when you're on the hunt. It evokes freedom but is quite seductive (as you can see, Riocam is always surrounded by women), so if you're a playboy? This toy is made for you. If you're deep into the niche sphere? You might still find this perfume interesting, but that slight synthetic touch might put you off, even though it's elevated to a high-end level. That's why I give it a solid 8. EDIT 02.12.2024. Here’s why I love this hobby, and here's one more reason why my Instagram is called "frag_explorer." My fragrance journey and exploration have led me to a new conclusion (many will thank me later), but to make it official, I will say it now: THANK ME LATER!! :p I discovered the perfume completely by accident at my job. I work as a city chimney sweeper, and a customer had a perfume on the shelf in the hallway. It was a Mercedes perfume, but I thought it was Club Black. Since I was working, I didn't have time to stop and smell it. Then, when I finished the job, I sprayed a bit on the sleeve of my shirt. The scent immediately reminded me of something, but I couldn't figure out what. For a good half hour, I was in a mental block, but at the same time, I was positively surprised by how nicely the perfume developed. Subconsciously, I was thinking a hundred miles an hour, trying to figure out what it reminded me of, what I had this with, or where I had smelled it before... You know that feeling, right? Then my brain lit up, and BLINK!!! Mercedes-Benz CLUB (the regular silver bottle) from 2013 clearly served as inspiration for the Ex Nihilo - Speed Legends Night Drive LMTD EDITION. I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but it's interesting how Mercedes, as a car company, can create such a brilliant perfume, and Ex Nihilo “accidentally” played with cars at that time, with photographer Rio Cam and his idea to create the concept of a night version of Night Drive in a limited edition. Cars on one side, cars on the other, in one sleeve we have the 2013 production year, and in the other, much richer and more potent, the same thing in a new edition created by Ex Nihilo under the direction of Jordi Fernandez. Of course, Oliver Cresp created the original theme for this scent for Mercedes Club. A totally underrated fragrance, I would say. So, if you can't (and I know you can't) buy Ex Nihilo Speed Legends Night Drive because the limited stock sold out very quickly, I suggest you buy Mercedes-Benz CLUB. And you will have this unique fragrance in a very, very similar (I’d say 85% similar) version. However, I recently discovered another newcomer that belongs to this group. It's from the M.INT perfume house, and the fragrance is called Time To Target. The opening is the same, but later it’s significantly different from the two previous ones mentioned. I plan to buy the Mercedes Club perfume soon as a backup, before it becomes discounted, which is very likely to happen. A question for you guys: Do you still play with toy cars like you did as kid? Thank me later... ;)

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: the price. At roughly $450, the cost of this fragrance is extremely difficult to justify. In my opinion, this should be priced more in line with a typical niche release—somewhere in the $200–$250 range. That pricing issue is the biggest criticism I have, and I’ll explain why throughout the rest of this review. From the opening, Speed Legends Night Drive immediately feels like a darker, more mature take on the original Speed Legends. That shouldn’t come as a surprise—the name literally includes “Night Drive.” Night implies darker, richer, and moodier. Some of the criticism I’ve seen seems to come from people expecting a completely different fragrance, which never made much sense to me. As a huge fan of the original, my biggest complaint was always its performance. Night Drive improves significantly in that department, earning immediate bonus points from me. It lasts longer, projects better, and feels more complete overall. As the fragrance develops, there are unmistakable hints of Sauvage Elixir. However, Night Drive presents those elements in a much more refined and niche manner. It’s smoother, less aggressive, and avoids the loud, sometimes headache-inducing nature that can come with Elixir. The fragrance projects well without becoming a room-filling monster. There’s also an interesting metallic nuance running through the composition, which I suspect comes from the blackcurrant. The sage is outstanding here—prominent, beautifully blended, and one of the fragrance’s strongest features. As it settles further into the drydown, the darker fresh opening gradually fades, revealing a gorgeous earthy, woody, patchouli-driven base. This is where the fragrance really shines for me. The transition feels natural and well-executed, creating a scent that remains interesting from start to finish. I absolutely love this fragrance. Fragrance is subjective, of course, but some of the negativity surrounding this release feels driven more by the price tag than by what’s actually in the bottle. I understand the criticisms—it isn’t revolutionary, it doesn’t introduce a completely new scent profile, and it certainly isn’t worth $450 from a value perspective. Those are all fair points. That said, when I judge the fragrance itself, independent of the pricing, I think it’s fantastic. It’s versatile enough to wear during the day, though it definitely leans toward evening wear, as the name suggests. It works well in nearly every season, with the exception of extremely hot summer days. Rating: 9.5/10

This fragrance is not that bad. Definitely not worth $800 though (resell prices) lmao. It opens up pretty warm and spicy but has some freshness to it, to me it reminds me of sauvage elixir without the licorice note. About 30 min to an hour in it starts to smell a bit sour i guess, like that sharp note that you smell in the opening of town & country mixed with speed legends. Deeper into the dry down it gets back to the warm and spicy territory from earlier, but the freshness isn't there anymore. This part reminds me of absolu aventus a little bit. It also did not remind me of that mercedez bens club (silver bottle) at all. Overall, its a pretty decent scent. Projection is solid, every time i moved around i would catch whiffs of it and I was able to smell it for 12 hours no problem. Looking forward to the re release of this, hopefully the retail price isn't too bad

First I am tired of so many special/limited releases and things getting discontinued. I'm tired of these companies introducing so much FOMO with new fragrance releases. Besides that, this is basically the original Speed Legends DNA but the cloud-like, airy-ness has been toned down a lot. I personally enjoy this over normal Speed Legends. That airy-ness in the original can become too much for me personally. Night Drive takes the original DNA, smooths out the musk and makes it a little darker. I really enjoy this one as a daily driver/signature scent but who knows if it will get discontinued again. I'll enjoy my bottle while it lasts but who knows what the future holds for this fragrance.

The branding concept of a “Night Drive” is well interpreted here; you have to smell it to understand. This fragrance has a shimmering quality to it - like sparkling metallic car paint under neon street lights🚦 The top notes blend together to create a patchouli-heavy, aromatic barbasol vibe that leans slightly synthetic - but very high quality like all Ex Nihilo’s formulas. Ambroxan isn’t listed as a note, but I’m certain its present in the dry down. It’s much more closely affiliated with Loewe 7 Elixir than Dior Sauvage. 7 Elixr takes the medicinal/clove lane, and Night Drive takes the synthetic, ambroxan lane Pun intended 🚘 🙋♂️